Is English the hardest language to speak?
The Difficulty of Learning to Speak English
English is one of the most difficult languages to learn, especially compared to many of the Romance languages like Spanish and French.
The language features grammatical rules that are often broken, an alphabet that can confuse people who are used to a character-based system, and spelling and pronunciation irregularities that perplex even native speakers.
Mandarin Chinese
Interestingly, the hardest language to learn is also the most widely spoken native language in the world. Mandarin Chinese is challenging for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the writing system is extremely difficult for English speakers (and anyone else) accustomed to the Latin alphabet.
- Rural. ...
- Sixth. ...
- Sesquipedalian. ...
- Phenomenon. ...
- Onomatopoeia. ...
- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. ...
- Worcestershire.
It is the language of science, aviation, computers, diplomacy and tourism. Last but not least, it is the language of international communication, the media and the internet. Whether it is for professional or personal reasons, understanding the importance of English will help you reach your goals.
These include China, The Gambia, Malawi, Colombia, Swaziland, Brazil, Russia, Argentina, Algeria, Uganda, Yemen, Chile and Tanzania. We also used the EF English Proficiency Index, which ranks countries according to their English language proficiency.
Some languages are notoriously tricky to learn, like Japanese, Chinese, and Russian. Generally speaking, English is also considered to be a challenging language, though not quite as complex as some. Compared to some languages, English has a large vocabulary, tricky grammar, and challenging pronunciation.
English is very simple because it has no cases, no gender, no word agreement, and possibly has a simple grammar system, unlike other languages. English is known to be easier than the Chinese or German languages because it is shorter and has fewer rules.
- Mandarin. Mandarin is spoken by 70% of the Chinese population, and is the most spoken language in the world. ...
- Arabic. ...
- 3. Japanese. ...
- Hungarian. ...
- Korean. ...
- Finnish. ...
- Basque. ...
- Navajo.
- Chinese: 1.51 billion people (native speakers: 899 million; second language speakers: 178 million)
- English 840 million people (native speakers: 330 million; second language speakers: 510 million)
What is the easiest language?
- Frisian. Frisian is thought to be one of the languages most closely related to English, and therefore also the easiest for English-speakers to pick up. ...
- Dutch. ...
- Norwegian. ...
- Spanish. ...
- Portuguese. ...
- Italian. ...
- French. ...
- Swedish.
In that case, what's the longest word in the English language dictionary? It's pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
Covers A Larger Precinct. Though not for all the languages, Sanskrit is surely the mother of many languages, especially languages spoken in Northern India. Even many words from Dravidian languages are derived from Sanskrit.
2. Arabic. Arabic is the queen of poetic languages, the 6th official language of the UN and second on our list of toughest languages to learn.
Because of America's dominance over cinema, television, popular music, trade, and technology (including the Internet) throughout the years, it made English even more universal! Today, English has become the leading language in business, science, literature, politics, diplomacy and many more areas and industries.
English is one definitely one of the most important languages to learn in 2021 and beyond. It is used in global business, worldwide travel, diplomatic affairs, and in computer technology. Not only that, but many of the top global economies are English-speaking ones — the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK.
English is the official language of 67 different countries and 27 non-sovereign entities around the world. But apart from that, English is also spoken in many countries where it's not an official language.
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Revealed: The World's Best Non-Native English Speaking Countries, 2019.
The Netherlands has emerged as the nation with the highest English language proficiency, according to the EF English Proficiency Index, with a score of 72.
There is no definitive answer to this question because it depends entirely on your mother tongue, as well as a whole range of other variables. Both languages are very different from each other, which is why native speakers from both sides claim the other to be the more difficult language to learn.
Is English easy to learn?
Why English is Easy. Despite these difficulties, English is actually the easiest language in the world to learn. You may think I'm crazy for saying this but allow me to explain. Unlike other languages, English has no cases, no gender, no word agreement, and arguably has a simple grammar system.
English grammar is hard because it lacks an intrinsic connection to our spoken language. To know English grammar well, one must become educated and practice reading and writing. The rules to English grammar are often not consistent, either, having nearly as many irregularities and exceptions.
But the hardest skill is speaking. Speaking combines the hard parts of writing and listening: it requires much more in-depth knowledge of the grammar, and it requires you to use this knowledge in real time. Also, you have to get pronunciation right, which adds another layer of complexity to an already complex task.
English is quite simple as it has no instances, no gender, no phrase agreement, and probable have an easy grammar system, not like different languages. English is thought to be less complicated than the Chinese or German languages due to being shorter and having fewer regulations.
English is flexible and easy to learn
It is a huge entity of vocabulary and is constantly absorbing new words, whilst at the same time seeping into foreign languages. English contains over 750,000 words. With so many different words available to describe things, you should never be short of synonyms.
However, the closest major language to English, is Dutch. With 23 million native speakers, and an additional 5 million who speak it as a second language, Dutch is the 3rd most-widely spoken Germanic language in the world after English and German.
- Mandarin. Number of native speakers: 1.2 billion. ...
- Icelandic. Number of native speakers: 330,000. ...
- 3. Japanese. Number of native speakers: 122 million. ...
- Hungarian. Number of native speakers: 13 million. ...
- Korean. Number of native speakers: 66.3 million. ...
- Arabic. Number of native speakers: 221 million. ...
- Finnish.
- Arabic.
- Russian.
- Korean.
- Navajo.
- Finnish.
- Vietnamese.
- Mongolian.
- Hungarian.
' Many students say: “English people speak so fast. I can never understand them.” In fact, English is one of the slowest languages. On average, native speakers use 150 syllables a minute. But Spanish people go along at an amazing 300 syllables a minute. Japanese is another fast language.
1. Japanese:
Japanese is the fastest recorded language. It has a rate of 7.84 syllables per second.
Which language is best for speaking?
- Chinese. Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world—spoken in some form by 1.2 billion people—so it only makes sense to include it on this list. ...
- Spanish. ...
- Korean. ...
- French. ...
- German. ...
- 6. Japanese. ...
- Italian. ...
- Portuguese.
- Mandarin Chinese.
- Arabic.
- Vietnamese.
- Finnish.
- Japanese.
- Korean.
The language which is considered to be the softest is the Italian language. The romance language is spoken by 66 million people across the world. This language has become very popular in the past years because of its softness and sweetness.
- Norwegian. This may come as a surprise, but we have ranked Norwegian as the easiest language to learn for English speakers. ...
- Swedish. ...
- Spanish. ...
- Dutch. ...
- Portuguese. ...
- Indonesian. ...
- Italian. ...
- French.
The shortest word is a. Some might wonder about the word I since it consists of one letter, too. In sound, a is shorter because it is a monophthong (consists of one vowel), while I is a diphthong. Both do consist of one letter in the English writing system, and in most fonts I is the narrowest letter.
In fact, most of the very long words in the dictionary are scientific terms: the second-longest word is electroencephalographically, which has 27 letters, and means 'by means of an electroencephalograph' (referring to a machine used to record brain activity).
In Vedic religion, "speech" Vāc, i.e. the language of liturgy, now known as Vedic Sanskrit, is considered the language of the gods.
Dating back to at least 3500 BC, the oldest proof of written Sumerian was found in today's Iraq, on an artifact known as the Kish Tablet. Thus, given this evidence, Sumerian can also be considered the first language in the world.
- Mandarin Chinese.
- Arabic.
- Korean.
- Thai.
- Hungarian.
- Mandarin. Number of native speakers: 1.2 billion. ...
- Icelandic. Number of native speakers: 330,000. ...
- 3. Japanese. Number of native speakers: 122 million. ...
- Hungarian. Number of native speakers: 13 million. ...
- Korean. ...
- Arabic. ...
- Finnish. ...
- Polish.
What is the least hardest language?
Spanish (3/30)
Spanish may be the #1 easiest language to learn. Not only does Spanish share the same alphabet – with the sole addition of ñ – but it's also phonetic. That makes figuring out new vocabulary easy, since the spelling tells you how to pronounce it.
- Mandarin. Mandarin is spoken by 70% of the Chinese population, and is the most spoken language in the world. ...
- Arabic. ...
- 3. Japanese. ...
- Hungarian. ...
- Korean. ...
- Finnish. ...
- Basque. ...
- Navajo.
Why English is Easy. Despite these difficulties, English is actually the easiest language in the world to learn. You may think I'm crazy for saying this but allow me to explain. Unlike other languages, English has no cases, no gender, no word agreement, and arguably has a simple grammar system.
The English language is widely regarded as one of the most difficult to master. Because of its unpredictable spelling and challenging to learn grammar, it is challenging for both learners and native speakers.
I can never understand them.” In fact, English is one of the slowest languages. On average, native speakers use 150 syllables a minute. But Spanish people go along at an amazing 300 syllables a minute. Japanese is another fast language. Mandarin is probably the slowest.
Generally, if you're an English speaker with no exposure to other languages, here are some of the most challenging and difficult languages to learn: Mandarin Chinese. Arabic. Vietnamese.
- Afrikaans. Like English, Afrikaans is in the West Germanic language family, once thought of as a Dutch dialect. ...
- French. Ah, the language of love. ...
- Spanish. ...
- Dutch. ...
- Norwegian. ...
- Portuguese. ...
- Swedish. ...
- Italian.
- Spanish. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language after Mandarin, and not a surprise at the top of languages to learn. ...
- German. ...
- Arabic. ...
- Mandarin. ...
- Portuguese. ...
- Russian. ...
- French.
Option 1: the American accent
The most popular English accent of them all. Spread around the world by American cinema, music, television and more than 350 million North Americans (including Canadians, eh), this is the easiest accent for most people to understand, whether native speakers or non-native speakers.